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发帖数: 4825 | 1 https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/27/tech/coronavirus-conspiracy-theory/index.html
Exclusive: She's been falsely accused of starting the pandemic. Her life has
been turned upside down
Story by Donie O'Sullivan, CNN Business
Video by Richa Naik and John General, CNN Business
Photographs by Heather Fulbright, CNN
Updated 10:17 AM ET, Mon April 27, 2020
Maatje Benassi, a US Army reservist and mother of two, has become the target
of conspiracy theorists who falsely place her at the beginning of the
coronavirus pandemic, saying she brought the disease to China.
The false claims are spreading across YouTube every day, so far racking up
hundreds of thousands of apparent views, and have been embraced by Chinese
Communist Party media. Despite never having tested positive for the
coronavirus or experienced symptoms, Benassi and her husband are now
subjects of discussion on Chinese social media about the outbreak, including
among accounts that are known drivers of large-scale coordinated activities
by their followers.
The claims have turned their lives upside down. The couple say their home
address has been posted online and that, before they shut down their
accounts, their social media inboxes were overrun with messages from
believers of the conspiracy.
"It's like waking up from a bad dream going into a nightmare day after day,"
Maatje Benassi told CNN Business in an exclusive interview, the first time
she has spoken publicly since being smeared online.
Maatje Benassi at her home on Wednesday, April 22. She said the experience
is "like waking up from a bad dream going into a nightmare day after
day." (Heather Fulbright / CNN)
Maatje Benassi at her home on Wednesday, April 22. She said the experience
is "like waking up from a bad dream going into a nightmare day after day." (
Heather Fulbright / CNN)
As the coronavirus has spread around the world, so has misinformation about
the disease. Technology giants have touted the steps they are taking to
combat coronavirus misinformation, but these efforts have failed to help the
Benassis. The family's suffering highlights the potential for blatant
falsehoods to be rewarded and amplified by social media platforms. It also
serves as a powerful reminder that misinformation online, however wild or
obviously untrue it may seem, can have real and lasting consequences offline.
Maajte and her husband Matt are still active in their government jobs.
Maajte is a civilian employee at the US Army's Fort Belvoir in Virginia
where she works as a security officer. Matt, a retired Air Force officer, is
a civilian employee with the Air Force at the Pentagon.
Despite working for the US government, the couple are experiencing the same
feelings of helplessness familiar to others who have been the target of
harassment and misinformation. "I want everybody to stop harassing me,
because this is cyberbullying to me and it's gone way out of hand," Maajte
said while fighting back tears.
Matt has tried to get the videos taken down from YouTube and to prevent
their spread online. The couple said they contacted an attorney, who told
them there was little that could be done, and local police, who told them
much the same.
Origins of a coronavirus conspiracy theory
Conspiracy theories are not dissimilar to viruses, in that they evolve and
mutate to spread and survive. Before Maatje Benassi became the main
protagonist in this conspiracy, variations had circulated online for months.
In the early weeks of the coronavirus, conspiracy theorists began claiming,
without evidence, that it was a US biological weapon. Later one member of
the Chinese government publicly promoted the notion that the US military
brought the virus to China. US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said it was "
completely ridiculous and it's irresponsible" for someone speaking on behalf
of the Chinese government to promote such a claim.
It wasn't until March, months after the first reported coronavirus cases in
China, that conspiracy theorists turned their focus to Maatje Benassi. The
baseless theory began with her participation in October in the Military
World Games, essentially the military Olympics, which was hosted by Wuhan,
the Chinese city where the coronavirus outbreak began last year.
Maatje Benassi competed in the cycling competition there, suffering an
accident on the final lap that left her with a fractured rib and a
concussion. Despite the crash, Benassi still finished the race, but it
turned out to be the start of something worse. While hundreds of athletes
from the US military took part in the games, Maatje Benassi was plucked out
of the group and given a starring role in the conspiracy theory.
A letter that Maatje Benassi received in the mail from an unknown sender.
Her family's address was posted online after she became the target of
conspiracy theorists. (Heather Fulbright / CNN)
A letter that Maatje Benassi received in the mail from an unknown sender.
Her family's address was posted online after she became the target of
conspiracy theorists. (Heather Fulbright / CNN)
Perhaps the most prominent cheerleader of the idea that Benassi had a role
in the imaginary plot to infect the world is George Webb, a prolific 59-year
-old American misinformation peddler. Webb has for years regularly streamed
hours of diatribe live on YouTube, where he has amassed more than 27 million
views and almost 100,000 followers.
In 2017, CNN revealed how Webb was part of a trio of conspiracy theorists
that pushed a false rumor about a cargo ship with a "dirty bomb" that was
set to arrive at the Port of Charleston in South Carolina. The bomb never
materialized, but the claims did lead to parts of the port -- one of the
biggest in America -- being shut down for a time as a safety precaution.
Until recently, Webb said, his YouTube videos included advertisements --
meaning the platform, which is owned by Google, was making money from Webb's
misinformation, as was Webb himself.
Webb even claimed that the Italian DJ Benny Benassi, whose 2002 song "
Satisfaction" became a worldwide sensation, had the coronavirus and that he,
along with Maatje and Matt Benassi, were part of a Benassi plot connected
to the virus. (Benny told CNN Business he has never met Maatje and Matt, and
they said that as far as they know, they are not related. Benny pointed out
that Benassi is a very common last name in Italy.)
Benny Benassi told CNN Business he has not been diagnosed with the
coronavirus. Like artists around the world, he canceled his concerts because
of social distancing and travel restrictions. (Webb previously claimed the
DJ is Dutch, he is not.)
In a phone interview with CNN Business on Thursday, which he livestreamed to
his followers on YouTube, Webb offered no substantive evidence to support
his claims about the Benassis and said he considered himself an "
investigative reporter," not a conspiracy theorist.
He also said that YouTube recently stopped running ads on his videos after
he began talking about the coronavirus. Webb said he had normally made a few
hundred dollars a month directly from YouTube.
YouTube confirmed to CNN that it was not currently running ads on Webb's
channel, but it declined to say whether ads appeared there in the past or
provide details on how much money his channel may have made. A company
spokesperson said YouTube was committed to promoting accurate information
about the coronavirus. The company removed some threatening comments about
the Benassis that had been posted under Webb's videos when asked about them
by CNN Business. YouTube also said it had removed some videos posted by Webb
in the past.
False theories online spark real world concerns
While the allegations about the Benassis may be wildly untrue, the threats
they face and the fear they feel are very real.
Matt Benassi said he fears this could "turn into another Pizzagate,"
referencing another baseless conspiracy theory that claimed a pedophilia
ring that somehow involved Hillary Clinton, among others, was operating out
of a Washington DC pizzeria. The fringe theory didn't receive much
mainstream attention until a man showed up at the pizzeria in late 2016 and
fired an assault weapon, saying he was there to investigate "Pizzagate."
Maatje's husband Matt says the family are afraid for their lives. (
Heather Fulbright / CNN)
Maatje's husband Matt says the family are afraid for their lives. (Heather
Fulbright / CNN)
"It's really hard to hold him [Webb] accountable," Matt Benassi said. "Law
enforcement will tell you that there's nothing that we can do about it
because we have free speech in this country. Then they say, 'Go talk to a
civil attorney,' so we did. We talked to an attorney. You quickly realize
that for folks like us, it's just too expensive to litigate something like
this. We get no recourse from law enforcement. We get no recourse from the
courts."
Matt Benassi said he has complained to YouTube but even when the company
does take videos down it can take days for it to do so. By that time, a
video can go viral, and the damage is done. Worse still: videos Webb has
posted to YouTube that are removed are often re-uploaded to the platform.
In China, the YouTube videos attacking the Benassis are uploaded to popular
platforms there such as WeChat, Weibo, and Xigua Video and are translated
into Chinese, according to an analysis by Keenan Chen, a researcher at First
Draft, a non-profit that researches disinformation.
Matt and Maatje Benassi both work for the US Military. (Heather Fulbright /
CNN)
Matt and Maatje Benassi both work for the US Military. (Heather Fulbright /
CNN)
The Benassis' experience is unfortunately not unique, said Danielle Citron,
a professor of law at Boston University School of Law and a MacArthur Fellow
who studies online harassment. Faced with "cyber mobs," as Citron describes
them, law enforcement often can't or won't investigate.
As for the likes of YouTube, Citron said the law has to change: "Right now,
they're totally immune from legal liability under federal law. And so they
can just walk away."
Whatever happens next, "the damage is done," according to Maatje Benassi. "I
know it [will] never be the same. Every time you're going to Google my name
, it will pop up as patient zero." |
